If this is your first visit, be sure to
check out the FAQ by clicking the
link above. You may have to register
before you can post: click the register link above to proceed. To start viewing messages,
select the forum that you want to visit from the selection below.

Indiana Pacers vs New York Knicks Game Thread (12/17)

Pacers(12-12) vs Knicks(7-16)
12/17, 7:30 on MSG

Welcome to MSGKnickz33 pregame show, im your host Jazzy Jeff and its time to take a look at tomorrow nights game. The Indiana Pacers defeated the Miami Heat 106-103 on Saturday night. Jamaal Tinsley led the way with 26 points and helped the Pacers reach .500 (12-12). Alot of experts thought that Indiana would not have what it takes to be a playoff team in the improved Eastern conference. The emergence of small forward Danny Granger has played a key part in the Pacers success.

Key Matchup: Mike Dunleavy vs Jamal Crawford

Mike Dunleavy is a more consistent, better discipined version of Crawford without the fancy ballhandling skills. We do not know which Crawford we will see tomorrow: The crawford that had a good game against New Jersey or the Crawford that shot 7-22 and turned the ball over against Chicago. Mike Dunleavy is not a good defender so Crawford should wisely look to exploit him. I use the word wisely to refer to his shot selection, he needs to take the right shots.

AT POINT GUARD, STEPHON MARBURY
AT SHOOTING GUARD, JAMAL CRAWFORD
AT SMALL FORWARD, QUENTIN RICHARDSON
AT POWER FORWARD, ZACH RANDOLPH
AT CENTER, EDDY CURRY

What do the Knicks need to do to win?

Attack!!!! Indiana is the 4th worst team defensively. Knicks need to attack and score.

Improve effort on defense: Pacers are 6th best team offensively, Knicks need to slow them down and contest every shot.

Box Out!!!! Pacers are the best rebounding team in the league, Knicks are ranked 16th.

Danger!!!! Watch Granger!!!! Danny Granger is averaging over 17points a game leading the Pacers.

Hurry!!! Get it to Curry!!! Don't worry when Jeff Foster is in the game, if Eddy gets good positioning he should be able to score all night. Foster is a great rebounder, not a great defender.

Stephon Marbury will make his return but he will not be getting his normal minutes. It will take him a week to get back into his rythm. Tinsley has been doing an excellent job of finding his teammates and he had a rare 26 points against Miami. Whether its Marbury, Crawford, or Mardy Collins, whoevers on Tinsley cant let him score 26 points. Thats not his game and only poor defense can allow someone whos not a big scorer to score that much. Jason Williams and Miami are having problems just like the Knicks.

Jamal Crawford will see some minutes at the point guard spot but he will probably be matched up with Dunleavy for much of the game. Dunleavy is a tall shooting guard who can shoot very well. Crawford needs to get up on him and contest every single one of his shots.

Quentin Richardson will have a tough matchup against the younger, quicker Danny Granger. Q's been having alot of problems with his shot so he needs to look to contribute mainly by playing defense and rebounding.

Zach Randolph will also have a tough matchup against the quicker and more athletic Jermaine O'Neal. They say in boxing that styles make fights. The 2 different styles of these basketball players will not make for an interesting matchup, Jermaine being taller and a shotblocker should not have problems with the slower Z-Bo.

Eddy Curry needs to come out the same way he did against the Nets, looking to attack. When he positions himself the way he needs to, he is almost unstoppable. Curry should look to take it right at Foster who is not as strong. Jermaine O'Neal might get switched onto Curry. If this happens then the Knicks should go to Zach more.

The Pacers have a good bench which features Troy Murphy, Shawne Williams, Marquis Daniels, and David Harrison. They can bring scoring, defense, and rebounding off the bench. The Knicks bench has problems offensively but they know someting about defending and rebounding too.

This will be a tough game against the high-scoring Indiana Pacers, but if the Knicks stick to my gameplan maybe they can come up with a win. There is a rumor that this game might be boycotted by the fans. One way or another, it will be a good game to watch. Im Jazzy Jeff and thanks for joining me for my pregame show. Enjoy the game, thats if your not boycotting it.

Difficult Game.......

The Pacers are a better team than what there record indicates. MSGKnickz33 is right, Granger is lethal, he can take us down by himself, the knicks have to play him tight. Hopefully Marbury can return and he can contain Tinsley. MSGKnickz33 way to be on top of the game thread, good work bud. Should be a good game all in all hopefully Curry, Randolph, and Crawford continue their strong play from the last game.

The starting lineup for the knicks, for the forceable future should be
Jones
Crawford
Balkman
Jeffries
Randolph

The offense can come from crawford and randolph while defense and energy from the outset of the game comes from the other 3. Marbury and Curry should be the first off the bench and be able to do damage againt the other teams bench. the starting five along with marbury and curry and david lee and in a limited role, Q-Rich should be the only players Zeke plays at least till the end of December

The starting lineup for the knicks, for the forceable future should be
Jones
Crawford
Balkman
Jeffries
Randolph

The offense can come from crawford and randolph while defense and energy from the outset of the game comes from the other 3. Marbury and Curry should be the first off the bench and be able to do damage againt the other teams bench. the starting five along with marbury and curry and david lee and in a limited role, Q-Rich should be the only players Zeke plays at least till the end of December

i like balkman's energy, but playing him and jefferies gives you zero "O" from the forwards... its like playing 3 on 5 ball.. don't think it works...

I like the idea of the energy and defense but i agree with Paris. They both have zero offense. I have no problem playing one of the two but not both at the same time. I understand that people want to split up Curry and Randolph but wouldn' you start Curry over Zack? Curry plays his best the first 5 minutes of the game.

this should be an interesting game for many reasons. just to see how we play and respond to a team win last game and marbury might be back with the team.

but also since O'Neal backed Isiah in the papers just yesterday. stating isiah is a great coach and the team needs to play with more heart i think that was a stab at current starting center Eddy Curry. jermaine still wants out and im sure at deadline will be traded. isiah has a bad history with the pacers but im sure if they offer either Eddy, Malik Rose and and a smaller contract we could land him easily. or randolph and malik or even marbury and eddy for oneal and tinsley. who knows.

i know i wouldnt mind seeing O'Neal play in the C next to Randolph or PF next to curry though.

O'neal has a very similar contract to marburys btw, only one year longer

The Pacers are a better team than what there record indicates. MSGKnickz33 is right, Granger is lethal, he can take us down by himself, the knicks have to play him tight. Hopefully Marbury can return and he can contain Tinsley. MSGKnickz33 way to be on top of the game thread, good work bud. Should be a good game all in all hopefully Curry, Randolph, and Crawford continue their strong play from the last game.

Thanks man maybe we can work sumthin out with these game threads One of us could do every other or we could do them together (no homo).

Originally Posted by lilman_bklyn

The starting lineup for the knicks, for the forceable future should be
Jones
Crawford
Balkman
Jeffries
Randolph

The offense can come from crawford and randolph while defense and energy from the outset of the game comes from the other 3. Marbury and Curry should be the first off the bench and be able to do damage againt the other teams bench. the starting five along with marbury and curry and david lee and in a limited role, Q-Rich should be the only players Zeke plays at least till the end of December

This would never work, not enough offense. Theres only one player that you can count on almost every night to score 20 points and thats Zach. Most of the time its an ugly 20 points.

Relying on Crawford is not smart. Im gonna call Crawford one third from now on cuz thats how often he plays........well I cant really say good, thats how often he plays arite.

Your sayin that your starting 5, Curry, Marbury, and Lee should be the 8 man rotation? This team sucks there goin nowhere. How bout we give some minutes to Randolph Morris and Wilson Chandler? And I know Mardy Collins has been dissapointing so far but he should get minutes too.

Originally Posted by GetRealistic

I like the idea of the energy and defense but i agree with Paris. They both have zero offense. I have no problem playing one of the two but not both at the same time. I understand that people want to split up Curry and Randolph but wouldn' you start Curry over Zack? Curry plays his best the first 5 minutes of the game.

Thats actually a good point but Zach comin off the bench wont happen. Z-BO and Curry will continue to start becuz of the money they make and the lack of money that David Lee makes.

unless steph specifically states that he wants out, i don't think he's going anywhere. not right now. the knicks are already the laughingstock of the nba. i don't think they're going to trade a grief-stricken troubled player who, like it or not, is the face of the franchise. it will only further the notion that they're the cruelest, stupidest, most power-hungry, abusive franchise in nba history. stranger things have happened, though. and with isiah and jimmy at the helm, nothing surprises me anymore.

This is going to be a very high scoring match, the Pacers r a good team. A bit like Golden State, u dont know which side will turn up on the night.
Hopefully Starbury plays and plays well.
Tinsley and Granger r obviously the keys to Indiana in my eyes.
I reckon Lee on Granger could work very well.

Far far away from the orgy that consist of clyde, 8's, rady, smokes and rono

Posts

11,260

Rep Power

0

Originally Posted by lilman_bklyn

The starting lineup for the knicks, for the forceable future should be
Jones
Crawford
Balkman
Jeffries
Randolph

The offense can come from crawford and randolph while defense and energy from the outset of the game comes from the other 3. Marbury and Curry should be the first off the bench and be able to do damage againt the other teams bench. the starting five along with marbury and curry and david lee and in a limited role, Q-Rich should be the only players Zeke plays at least till the end of December

Haven't you learned yet? An offense led by Crawford/Randolph will average 90 points at best, the give up 100 points defensively.

That line up would average 8 assist a game.

We seriously don't match up well for the Pacers. Pacers OWNED Orlando at their house and Orlando is one of the most elite teams in the league. Pacers can enforce defense at the same time have Danny Granger(Who's arising to all-star level) take over offensively. If their players can stay healthy they have no reason to finish as the 5th or 6th seed.

Good 1st quarter, bad 2nd quarter. Zach looked like a MVP candidate in the 1st but in the 2nd hes looked like a human Burger King advertisement.

I hope this is wrong but my sources tell me that Eddy Curry has 6 turnovers, Z-Bo has 3. Crawford has 0 turnovers, hes got some catchin up to do in the 2nd half but we all know hes capable of doin that.